Ruling-pen and holder



(No Model.)

A. N. DOW. RULING PEN AND HOLDER. No. 569,038. Patented Oct. 6, 1896.

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WITNESSES. "H E/g1? Q/ @wm/P WQ M ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT N. DOW, OF EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

RULlNG-PEN AND HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,038, dated October 6, 1896.

Application filed February 1'7, 1896. Serial No. 579,647. (No model-l To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT N. DOW, of Exeter, in the county of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and Improved Ruling-Pen and Holder, of which the'following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates toa ruling-pen and holder for the same, the pen being intended to be especially useful to accountants in ruling either single or double lines.

One of the objects of the invention is to make the holder in such a way that it will serve as a guide to the alinement which the pen is designed to make and without the assistance of an ordinary ruler, although the pen may be used in connection with a ruler while inserted in the improved holder, and whereby the pen may be used in connection with any ordinary form of penholder. The penholder is further designed to'be useful, combining with its ordinary functions that of an ink-eraser, pencil-mark eraser, papercutter, due.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved penholder and pen secured thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the penholder shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation illustrating a slight modification in the construction of the penholder; and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the form of penholder shown in Fig. 1, but materially reduced in length.

In carrying out the invention the pen A is made with two points 10 and 11, placed as far apart as in practice may be found advisable, and the width at the points may be made to recede therefrom or in direction of the points. The left-hand point 11 of the pen is The shank of the pen is atstraight-edge the direction of the proposed 7 alinement may be judged. The bearing-surfaces are located at two different points on the aforesaid straight-edge 12, the bearingsurface 13 being quite close to the pen A and the bearing-surface 14 being located a predetermined distance at the rear of the forward surface 13. These bearing-surfaces project slightly beyond the straight-edge 12, and the holder is adapted to rest upon them rather than upon the straight-edge when the latter is in position for alining. The said bearing surfaces or edges 13 and let are preferably made of metal, and their bottom edges are beveled or rounded. The bearing edge or surface 14 farthest from the pen may have a bearing length of one-half an inch, more or less, while the forward bearing surface or edge 13 need not be so long.

Two trucks or wheels 15 may be substituted for the aforesaid bearing surfaces or points 13 and let, or one of the said surfaces may be used together with awheel, as shown in Fig. 1. In the event that the bearing-surfaces for the holder consist of beveled edges a slight downward pressure upon the holder causes the edges to sink into the paper, permitting the holder to move over the paper only in a straight line, passing through the aforesaid bearing edges. In the event that wheels 15 or trucks are used instead of the bearing edges 13 and 14 the peripheries of the wheels are slightly roughened, so as to prevent the said wheels from slipping or having side motion, and the holder will then move on the paper only in the direction of the alinement of the two wheels.

The slight crease in the paper made by the narrow edges of the bearing-wheels is not apparent. It has been found that when the bearing-surface consists of one long sharp edge too much pressure is required upon the holder to guard against side motion, and the edge is required to be too sharp. The best results are obtained with two short bearing edges, as shown in Fig. 3, separated two inches, more or less, or with two wheels, or with one narrow edge and one wheel.

The holder may be guided by two wheels, and the one nearest to the pen in this event may be made polygonal. This form of bearing will produce a line (single or double) alternating in light and heavy shades. The double-pointed pen Ais so adjusted in the holder that the left-hand or long point of the pen and the two bearing edges of the holder shall all be in a straight line, and when the holder stands evenly upon its bearing edges both pen-points will bear equally upon the paper. This adjustment of the left hand point on a line with the bearing edges of the holder necessarily brings the right-hand point to the right of this line, so that by inclining the holder slightly to the left while it still rests upon its bearing edges the right-hand point is raised from the paper, and in mov ing the holder lengthwise across the sheet of paper in its inclined position only a single line will be made, being drawn by the lefthand point, which has bearing upon the paper. By inclining the holder tothe right .or to the left a heavy or a light line may be made by the right-hand point.

The holder may be made of wood or of any desired material, metal beingpreferred, and it may be made in different forms, two of which are shown in the drawings. In one form (shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3) the holder approximates the length of an ordinary penholder, but in Fig. 4; the holder is made much shorter, being not much longer than the distance between the outside ends of its bearing edges. will be found most convenient for short alinements. The longer form with its sharp under edge may serve as a paper-cutter, and said edge may be marked in inches, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to serve as a rule. The longer form of the holder will be found more convenient if it is to be used as an ordinary penholder than would the shorter form, and the longer form of the holder will provide a better guide to an alinement.

At what may be termed the inner end of the holder a blade 16 is located, preferably made of steel, being shaped and adapted for use as an ink-eraser and knife. In the event the entire penholder is made of steel the blade and eraser will be an integral portion of the same.

The shorter form of the holder A rubber eraser 17 is attached to the holder,

preferably near its upper ed ge and adjacent to the knife or eraser, but at such distance from the latter as not to interfere with its functions. The rubber eraser 17 may be attached to the side of the holder near the base of the blade, or it may be inserted in a hole made through the holder at this point, and in this latter event the rubber eraser will project beyond both sides of the holder.

An instrument constructed as above described is a time-saver for accountants, especially for work upon ledger-accounts and as a desk implement which combines in one nearly all of the tools needed in clerical work,

and as these tools thus combined cannot be.

lost or scattered individually they are always at hand.

The instrument may be used as a double liner or as a single-liner, paper-cutter, envelop-opener, knife, ink-eraser, 1 pencil-line eraser, pencil-sharpener, rule, ordinary penholder, and pen for artistic work, as with the improved pen designs may be readily made holder being provided with bearing-surfaces-go located at, its pen-receiving end and at the. rear of the said end, the lower edges of the.

said surfaces being in alinement, substane tially as described.

2. A penholder provided with a straights edge as an under edge, and bearing-surfaces or edges extending downward through the straight-edge, the bearing-surfaces or edges being in alinement, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with a double-nibbed IOO pen, the pairs of nibs being spaced apart, of

- a holder, and means for securingthe holder to thepen, the said holder being provided with substantially sharp bearing-surfaces projected from its lower edge, the said sur- 7 faces being in alinement and in alinement with one set of nibs of the pen, as and for the purpose specified.

4. A penholder provided with a straight: edge serving as an under edge, and a revolving bearingsurface extending below the said. straight-edge, as and for the purpose speci- ALBERT N. DOW.

lVitnesses:

W. N. Dow, FLORENCE Dow.- 

